Neil ReshenNeil Reshen, a New Yorker whose fierce negotiating with record labels helped a couple of twangy Texans named Waylon and Willie become the iconoclastic voices of ?outlaw? country music, died on Dec. 6 in the Bronx. He was 75. His daughter Dawn Reshen-Doty said the cause was complications of Alzheimer?s disease.
By the early 1970s, Waylon Jennings had grown tired of the constraints of the so-called Nashville Sound ? sweet strings, bland themes, hair spray. After 15 years in the music business, his star was fading and he was deep in debt. When he asked his record company for more money and more creative control, it ignored him.
Then a friend urged Mr. Jennings to talk to Mr. Reshen, warning that he might not actually like him. Mr. Reshen was not a lawyer, not a certified public account, and he was by no means Southern. He had a funny beard and had studied accounting at City College before working his way into the good graces of music executives and performers ? including Ken Glancy, the president of RCA, and Miles Davis during his fusion phase ? by doing their income taxes. In time, he began representing a diverse range of artists and entertainers, including Mr. Davis, Frank Zappa, the Velvet Underground and Peter Max.
However wary Mr. Jennings may have been, he was quickly convinced after he saw the fearlessness with which Mr. Reshen confronted executives at RCA, the label where he had been under contract. After a few memorable meetings ? tense silences, the occasional outburst and well-timed walkouts were among Mr. Reshen?s tactics ? Mr. Jennings?s new manager helped him obtain a substantial advance and something perhaps more priceless: artistic freedom.
?He was,? Mr. Jennings later wrote, ?like a mad dog on a leash.?
Over the next several years, Mr. Jennings became a superstar, releasing a string of hit albums, including ?Lonesome, On?ry and Mean,? ?Honky Tonk Heroes,? ?Dreaming My Dreams? (his first No. 1 hit on the country charts, in 1975) and ?Ol? Waylon,? in 1977.
Not long after Mr. Reshen began working with Mr. Jennings, he also started managing Mr. Jennings?s good friend, a respected songwriter who had never made it big as a singer: Willie Nelson. He, too, wanted more freedom.
The first album Mr. Nelson recorded under a contract that Mr. Reshen helped negotiate with Columbia was called ?Red Headed Stranger.? Spare and dark and recorded in just four days in January 1975, the album was not well received by Columbia executives. They delayed its release, proposing changes to make it more marketable.
Mr. Jennings, concerned for his friend, joined Mr. Reshen in a meeting with the label ? and they both walked out, demanding that the label release the record as it was. Released in May, ?Red Headed Stranger? rose to No. 1 on the country charts and No. 28 on the pop charts. Mr. Nelson, too, became a superstar.
